ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Severe immunopathology may drive the deleterious manifestations that are observed in the advanced stages of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to phenotype leukocyte subpopulations and the cytokine milieu in the lungs and blood of critically ill patients with COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). METHODS: We consecutively included patients less than 72 hours after intubation following informed consent from their next of kin. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was evaluated by microscopy; bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood were assessed by 10-color flow cytometry and a multiplex cytokine panel. RESULTS: Four mechanically ventilated patients (aged 40-75 years) with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 ARDS were included. Immature neutrophils dominated in both blood and lungs, whereas CD4 and CD8 T-cell lymphopenia was observed in the 2 compartments. However, regulatory T cells and TH17 cells were found in higher fractions in the lung. Lung CD4 and CD8 T cells and macrophages expressed an even higher upregulation of activation markers than in blood. A wide range of cytokines were expressed at high levels both in the blood and in the lungs, most notably, IL-1RA, IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, and monocyte chemoattactant protein-1, consistent with hyperinflammation. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 ARDS exhibits a distinct immunologic profile in the lungs, with a depleted and exhausted CD4 and CD8 T-cell population that resides within a heavily hyperinflammatory milieu.
Subject(s)
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology , COVID-19/immunology , Lung/immunology , Lymphopenia/immunology , Respiratory Distress Syndrome/immunology , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Th17 Cells/immunology , Adult , Aged , CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/pathology , COVID-19/pathology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Cytokines/immunology , Female , Humans , Immunophenotyping , Lung/pathology , Lymphopenia/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Respiratory Distress Syndrome/pathology , Th17 Cells/pathologyABSTRACT
Type I interferons (IFN-I) play a critical role in human antiviral immunity, as demonstrated by the exceptionally rare deleterious variants of IFNAR1 or IFNAR2. We investigated five children from Greenland, Canada, and Alaska presenting with viral diseases, including life-threatening COVID-19 or influenza, in addition to meningoencephalitis and/or hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis following live-attenuated viral vaccination. The affected individuals bore the same homozygous IFNAR2 c.157T>C, p.Ser53Pro missense variant. Although absent from reference databases, p.Ser53Pro occurred with a minor allele frequency of 0.034 in their Inuit ancestry. The serine to proline substitution prevented cell surface expression of IFNAR2 protein, small amounts of which persisted intracellularly in an aberrantly glycosylated state. Cells exclusively expressing the p.Ser53Pro variant lacked responses to recombinant IFN-I and displayed heightened vulnerability to multiple viruses in vitro-a phenotype rescued by wild-type IFNAR2 complementation. This novel form of autosomal recessive IFNAR2 deficiency reinforces the essential role of IFN-I in viral immunity. Further studies are warranted to assess the need for population screening.